May092013

Google Earth Releases New Time-lapse Browsable HTML5 Map Imagery

Google Earth with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), NASA and TIME, compiled more than a quarter-century of images of Earth taken from space, into an interactive time-lapse, browsable HTML5 animation–thus, making it possible to go back in time and get a stunning historical perspective on the changes to the Earth’s surface over time.

“We believe this is the most comprehensive picture of our changing planet ever made available to the public,” google stated.

Adding, “Using Google Earth Engine technology, we sifted through 2,068,467 images–a total of 909 terabytes of data–to find the highest-quality pixels (e.g., those without clouds), for every year since 1984 and for every spot on Earth. We then compiled these into enormous planetary images, 1.78 terapixels each, one for each year,” it said.

Also, Google Maps Street View images are now available in the Maps OneBoxes. Now, when you search an address using Google, you’ll usually see a Google Maps result with a static map and links for directions.

For address that’s very specific and includes a street number, Google will also show a Street View thumbnail that lets you quickly access Google’s panoramic street-level imagery.

The new user experience will come with some less features and can be tried using a application called Maps Engine Lite (it’ll probably replace the My Maps feature), that has some common features as the new Maps UI.

Full-screen map, interface elements overlaid on top of the map, the same search box and zoom buttons. It’s consistent with the new Google Maps interface.

Deepak Gupta is a IT & Web Consultant. He is the founder and CEO of diTii.com & DIT Technologies, where he's engaged in providing Technology Consultancy, Design and Development of Desktop, Web and Mobile applications using various tools and softwares. Sign-up for the Email for daily updates. Google+ Profile.